Los Angeles tables: Adventure meets tradition

Maude

Stepping off the TV screen (he was host of Top Chef Masters), the Australian chef Curtis Stone conceived this small restaurant to make a go of concocting themed dinners based on single menu items that change monthly.

Republique

In an old building with a lineage that hearkens back to Charlie Chaplin and the iconic restaurant Campanile, restaurateur Bill Chait and chef Walter Manzke remade an image of French cooking at its most modern and meticulous.

Pot

Making “Let’s Smoke” a slogan-type message is not a way to dissuade diners from associating a restaurant named Pot with a certain herb, nor does chef Roy Choi seem eager to at this playful, inventive Asian spot in the Line Hotel in Koreatown.